The Power of the Tongue

With that, launch into the sermon with a little water.

I will echo what was said earlier about the election. I won't go into that very much because we're not political here at all. But I will tell you that I stayed up to see the return of 1230, and I went in and hit my knees and prayed because that's the reason I stayed up.

And I would have prayed for either man because that's what I'm told to do. We're going to go through there. Anybody that wants that job?

I don't know who would want that job. So we need to pray. And as a matter of fact, I have a sermon coming up in a few weeks on the part three of prayer. We will go into that because Paul actually told his disciple Timothy to pray.

For the king. If you go back and study your history. Who was the king? He told him to pray for? Nero. Study your history. You'll find what kind of leader Nero was. So we've been given instruction to pray for our leaders. And it says, For all! So we have to live by the Bible. Not by anybody's phrases or words. And as we go into that today, hopefully you read some of James. The book of James. I said we were going to go into it. We're going to have a sermon this week. We'll have another sermon next week. On the book of James. James, if we want to have a wonderful, fabulous, loving, caring church here. He too, take the book of James seriously. He wrote to brethren, not to the world. He wrote to brethren scattered all over, scattered tribes. They weren't lost to Him. He knew where they were. But here is a man, the half-brother of Jesus Christ. Here is a man who was a minister for at least 25 years in the Jerusalem church. He had seen it all, experienced it all with those people at that time. He was called an apostle. He was definitely a leader. And so all that he came to know, he put down in five chapters of the Bible. Here is a man that is called James the Jest. Here is one who historians say he was known because of his appearance. Because his knees were as those of a camel, where he spent so much time on his knees. This is the same man that made fun of and mocked his brother Jesus Christ, but was forever changed by his life and death and resurrection. That's a guy who wrote this book. And so you can imagine, because it's debatable whether this was written in the 50s or 60s, I believe it was written in the 60s being James was killed about 67, 68 AD before the fall of the city. Here, it's kind of like having someone write down in just five chapters, a few pages, everything that they think a church should know. If everything that the people in that church should know for themselves and everything that a church that wants to be remembered, blessed and honored by God would put in their hearts. That's why I wanted to go through this, because I love the book of James. I have spent months and months of probably years in the book of James. I know that book. I don't know all the books. I will, but I know this one. And this one is special. No matter where I'm at, what I'm doing, I can pick it up and I can just still look at it and know where I need to go. Because there's something in there for me. He's talking to me. He's talking to us. And I want the kind of church that he wants us to be. As obviously I believe he knew, this was going to be written down. And this was going to be kept and given. My daddy knew it was going to be almost 2,000 years later. But it is to us. And if you read the book of James, which can actually be done if you just read straight through it. 30 minutes, 20 minutes, depends on how fast you are.

Did something strike you? Maybe the second or third time reading it through. Which I suggest that you read it every day for about two weeks. Just go through it. So pretty soon you know it. And you realize, wow, that was given for me today. I needed that today.

And he knows what you are probably going to need tomorrow. That's why it is called the Living Word.

But Jesus Christ said something to set this up. This is because I want to get through a decent time. If you return to Matthew 12. Matthew 12, because this gets a lot of books sometimes. And Matthew 12, in verse 36, Jesus Christ says, That I say to you, that for every idle word men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

Every idle word. Every idle word. What about those words in forethought?

I am going to be judged by every word. I need to watch. Especially those words that I am thinking about. Them so! Jesus Christ said that. And because of the reaction and life of James and his mouth, obviously. He said to Christ how he treated Christ growing up when the last three and a half years was life.

I think it made a difference.

I think he thought about those words that he said.

Those cold and cruel words that embarrass him. Older brother that he had to him and the leaders of today.

Back in February or March of this year, I gave sermon on the first chapter of James called, Count it all Joy When You Fall into Various Trials.

Very, very strong words.

And if you go to the book of James, which I am at, you just look through there as I have mine, almost my pages are almost so thin. I have turned and turned and turned. But in chapter 1, verse 19, it says, That man might be loved, brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to laugh.

And then he goes in verse 26, and he says, If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue, does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this one's religious is vain or useless. So if we cannot bridle our tongue, we're wasting our time professing to be one of God. I didn't say that. That's what the word says.

Those are religions in vain.

You can go chapter 4. Chapter 4, verse 11. He says, Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. I think he's directing it to us. Brethren. And then you go to chapter 5, verse 9.

And he says, Do not grumble against one another, brethren.

I think there's a theme going through here.

But then we come to chapter 3.

Chapter 3. Mike, you turn there. James chapter 3 and verse 1. That's what we'll say. We're going to wrap up right here.

Because there's so much in these 10 verses.

That's been written to us.

Chapter 3 and verse 1. He says, Mike, brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.

Sending something out there for all of us.

Mr. Lavender. He just handed him a paper showing what strictness was. I picked apart his message. Now he has a whole week to go through it. With everything I could find wrong that he said, did. I want to make him the best he can be.

Knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment, for we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect or mature man.

Able also to bridle the whole body.

If he can control this, he will not have to worry about this.

Now verse 3. And I want you to see how James writes. It's very simple. They would call him an educated man. I'd say he was a very educated man.

Very simplistic way of writing. Make it so everyone can understand that his use of metaphors helps us to dig deep and apply it to our own lives. So verse 3. He says, indeed, we put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey us and we can turn their whole bodies.

It's interesting. Put bits in horses' mouths. How many people have grew up with horses or been around horses? Yes, oh, well, half. People in here. Good! So you understand that there's a bridle and usually a bridle is a bit. And a bridle, just some people keep on a horse so they can reach and grab him. But with us, we only had bridles that had bits because we didn't keep them on a horse. And whenever we wanted to ride, we had to get them up, feed them some corn, slip it on them, and then put the bit, the metal bit, in their mouth. And it says here, we put bits in horses' mouths that they made obey us. And we turned their whole body. Can you imagine the first, if you've been around horses or have seen it, the first person that came up with putting a bit in a horse's mouth and be able to turn this 1,000 to 2,000 pound animal? That'd be simply amazing to most people. And that that could control that whole body by having that bit and that bridle in their mouth. That's interesting. This word here in the Greek and strong, it's 5469, in case you want to look it up. This is the only time it's ever used in the New Testament. This bit, that bit. And it actually means, the actual word means curb. C-U-R-B in Greek. Curb. Goes into that just a little bit later. It is said that the man who controls his tongue is able to bridle the entire body. How good are you? You know, it's truly amazing to see a spirited, powerful, strong-willed and petuous horse, subdued by a bit and a bridle. The horse's spirit does not leave him, but it's put under control and guidance. If I can say one thing, it's power under control. Power under control. Kind of like us. We're able to control this little thing in our mouth. I always love the saying that the first caveman not throwing rocks to settle a dispute became the leap of civilization. Because too many times, violence is how things are settled in the world. And with us, we could settle a lot of arguments instead of starting with this, this tongue. That's what James is trying to say. He's trying to get us focused on this little thing because there's a whole lot of problems. You know, a person's tongue, like the rest of our body, must be kept in control. Just think about it. You don't want to be crude, but you just spit anywhere? Okay. You've seen people walking down the street walking right by you and they'll spit right by you. You know? Our scratch. We use scratch anywhere, anytime. There's certain protocols, isn't there? There's certain disciplines you don't do. And it's amazing because we can talk about spitting or scratching. And everybody agrees, yes! We don't want to see that. But yet, the tongue just rattles off for most of us with not much discipline.

Psalm 39, verse 1. David was this emotional, passionate man who I'm sure his tongue got him in trouble many times. He says, I will take heed to my ways that I sin not with my tongue. I will keep my mouth with a bridle. But in Hebrew, that bridle meant muscle. He nearly needed to muzzle that mouth. But see, all those who raised their hand and had a horse or grew up with horses or ridden horses, one thing. You realize one thing? It's not always easy getting that bit in the horse's mouth. It wasn't my horses. I had a horse when I got my first horse when I was about 6 or 7. Had it till I was about 17 or 18.

And it was not easy. Just like it's not easy for us to bridle our tongue. Think of many faux pas. He said, you wish you could take some things back. Have you ever done anything? And at the end of the day, you come in and go, I can't keep my mouth shut. Why did I say that?

See, it's interesting because it says, turn the whole body.

It's interesting that the word bit and bridle there actually means curb. Because they were talking about a curb on a street. Because the streets are laid just like they are in Rome, just like they are in Pompeii when they went through Pompeii, that city that was just kept right there after it was covered with volcano. They uncovered it, and it's just like it was all those years. And there was a curb up on the street, pretty tall. And it kept the chariots from running off into the house, to the yards. It's like our curbs here. They keep you going straight, you see? So you don't just bear off.

That's what this bit, that's what it's a bridle. That he's saying we need to have. It'll keep us going straight if we can bridle our tongues. And you just think about all the trouble. It'll keep your whole body out of trouble. Now maybe you think of something I would like next week if you come up with something else to tell me, because I will probably give this to you in other places. But I thought of six ways in which this tongue can get you in trouble.

Because a verbal action, sometimes with guys, it can cause a physical reaction. Right? And one of the things we learn as a very young age, boys, this tongue gets you in trouble because it can bring you a knuckle sandwich, as my dad used to say. And he'd tell me, sometimes with that mouth, you deserve a knuckle sandwich. A fist in the mouth! Because that's what happens sometimes. That's the way a tongue can get you. How about a lawsuit? Heard a slander? Deformation of character? How about hurt feelings? Haven't we all hurt people's feelings with something we said? Maybe some of those closest to us? Family? Do something. Somebody does something you don't like, you go, you're an idiot. You must be dumber than dirt. This rolls off our tongue, doesn't it? Well, hopefully it doesn't roll off yours. I have to watch mine. But it can cause hurt feelings. I'm his embarrassment to the nth degree. Well, I've been there before, said something. Oh, how far along are you? Oh, you're not pregnant. Sorry. Yeah, I did that before. How about lies? How about the big fat ones? Are they little white lies? Barely a lie.

And then there's the curse. You use it for cursing. I was walking and doing my meditation the other day down the beach. And there were two young guys in their 20s carrying their surfboards out. And as they met me, I just heard like two sentences from each other. And at least half the words in it were blankety-blank, blank, blank. Okay?

Half the words is head! Half and this and this and this and this. You know? They thought nothing of it. They were just carrying on conversation. What about us? When something like that happens, is it a slip or a flow?

Because there is a difference. Is it a slip of the tongue or is it just a flow out? Just because I've been doing that all my life. It's six ways I've come up with. Maybe you can come up with others and let me know. I'd like to add them to my list.

Because for those six ways, there's three very great things that this thing can do. One is praise. Praise! Praise God! Praise other people! Then there's glorify. We can glorify God. And then we can do one thing that's sometimes praising and glorifying. That's saying, I can't sing.

I am terrible singing. I am worse than worse. I like to sing. I just wish I could. With God. He gives us tongues so we can sing and praise Him. The whole body can be affected. The Scripture says, turned. We must, brethren, place bridles on our mouths for the deliberate purpose of controlling our tongue. A horse has to have someone put the bridle on.

Have we let God put our bridle on? Is His Word brought to the vet? Our curve is the Word of God. God's Word. For Christ's sake, man, should not live by bread alone, but by every word proceeds from the mouth of God. Wonder how many words I've said that Christ never said. A lot. A lot. The title of the sermon is, The Horse, The Ship, A Fire, and Some Beasts. We just looked at the horse.

Now I want to look at the ship, because that's what He talks about next. The horse, the ship, a fire, and some beasts. So go down to verse 4. It says, Look, also at ships, although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder, wherever, wherever the pilot desires. Hmm. You know, the horse is an irrational creature, and yet can be managed by the bridle.

The ship has no mind at all, and yet is moved by this very small rudder. See how it relates to the tongue? That ship, the rudder, our bodies, the tongue, and then he says it part of the... Wherever the pilot wants it to go. Are you a good pilot? Am I?

Good captain of your ship! Mary and I used to love to go canoeing. I'm canoeing back in Tennessee. We'd go canoeing over the years. And it's interesting because the person in the back, which was usually me, the paddle, you just turn it just a little bit, or you stroke a little harder or a little less, and it turns the canoe and guides it.

And it's interesting because just a little pressure takes it to one side or the other. So you can go down two different paths, just like our tongue. It can be for good, or it can be for bad. You know, the scripture refers to not a boat, not a canoe, but a ship. That's what this Greek word refers to. A ship on an ocean! A big ship! And it talks about the power of a small rudder. It can lead a giant, powerful ship to an iceberg or around a destructive piece of land. So you don't run aground. So what is the lesson of the rudder? For James' spiritual audience, which is us, we must watch the tongue to avoid a shipwreck.

We must watch our tongues to avoid a major shipwreck in our lives. Think of some people in the past. One statement defined their life. One statement! One sentence ruined their life! Remember a man by the name of Jimmy the Greek? One of your older guys, been around for a little while. Jimmy's been dead 10 years, 20 years. 25 years ago, he was a man in sports. Everybody knew him. Famous man made one. Stupid, ignorant if I can say, statement, and ruined his career. I think he died broke if I remember a story.

Think of politicians who are remembered by certain sentences, and usually it wasn't a positive one. How's your ship? How's your rudder? Just take the small rudder. Some of you have small tongues. That's all it takes. You have a small tongue. You've got a lot of damage, can't you? Or you can really change people's lives. Verse 5. The fire. A fire! So even so, the tongue is a little member, and those great things. See how great a force a little fire kindles. Sometimes I wonder if God wouldn't prefer us to write, you know, have one of these sticky notes right on our mouth, and has danger. Just so we could be sure. So we don't say something we wish we hadn't.

The old, how great a matter a little fire can kindle. It says how great a force to set a flame by such a small fire. The tongue is a fire. One interpretation says, a world of iniquity. It's interesting that King Amasis of Egypt sent a sacrifice off with a request. He'd be sent back the best part and the worst part. He was sent back the tongue. Some understanding there. You know, one small spark, one match, one half-lit cigarette, it's causing credible damage.

One little match can bring such devastation and death. Thousands of acres are burned every year. Last year, over 2,500 people died from a little fire. Six point nine billion dollars was the damage for that caused by fires of 14,000 people. Seriously injured. So if I can say one thing, and you get it down, it's this. The tongue, the tongue, a wonderful, powerful, destructive thing.

The tongue, a wonderful, powerful, destructive thing. The danger of one small word. You know, it's been a few words that's destroyed people's lives. Sometimes the words aren't spoken, they're put down in black and white. They're sent over a computer.

Last year, a young girl committed suicide because she read on an email. Some other girl's mother, friend of hers' mother, sent her this note telling how bad she was. What a piece of trash she was. She killed herself. And you read story after story like that. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never harm me. That's a lie. That's a lie. Words cut deep. That's a phrase called hate speech. Have you heard of? I have. I hear certain words that are just there to inflame people.

Cold, cruel, vicious, evil words that people learn to use. You don't have to turn there, but Jesus said in Matthew 15, verse 11, that which proceeds out of the mouth, that defiles a man. What comes out of your mouth is what can defile you. The word fire. You can be charged with a crime for yelling fire in a crowded room, theater. Why? Because they know that's a powerful word. How many powerful words have you used in your life? It's interesting that you go and acts and you see when the Holy Spirit was given.

And be a salt. What did they see? Tongues of fire. Tongues of fire. Is that a good teaching? That I'm about to give you power. I'm about to give you the Holy Spirit. I'm about to give you a tongue. It's full of fire and power. Hmm. Let you answer that. See, there's a responsibility given to everyone. Power given to us through these tongues. You ever had a small fire get out of control?

Ever started a little by your house or something? I so remember because we had a piece of rental property. I was redoing it and so forth and had a young man for my work. And I couldn't... I gotta watch what I say. I didn't really give him anything else to do. So I said, I want you to break up all the leaves and then take all the old wood because there was an old shed there and take it out and set it.

Bring it away from the house and start a fire and burn all this up. A little bit out in the country. But keep it away from the house! And I had to go run in there and I came back about two hours later. And you could see where the whole yard had been burnt all the way up to the house.

Everywhere. Just gotten... He was worn out where he was fighting that fire. I came back and said, what happened? He goes, got out of control. How many words have we set on fire and thrown at someone?

Have you ever inflamed someone with just a word or two? You know they have buttons to push. And it's interesting in marriage. In marriage there are certain buttons you can push and you know that person. And you know you shouldn't push that button. You just gotta push that button. It's like, you never... Have you ever used that one? You never. Are you always? And then it starts, doesn't it? You feel this fire kind of get up inside you and you're just like, oh man, let me go off.

My wife's smiling. Not because she's liking the sermon. We all deal with it, don't we? When can we learn to curve our tongue? There's a powerful phrase in the Bible that all of us should send chills down our spine. It's called the lake of fire. The lake of fire. It's our destiny if we can't get our tongue under control. No phrase, you play with fire, you get burned. That phrase, loose lips, sink ships from the military.

It's so interesting because I always loved in Tennessee growing up because I was born in Indiana, moved to Tennessee, and Indiana, they had... Tumsie was out in that area near the battlefield, typical new. And so I studied Indians when I moved to Tennessee. We had the Cherokee and some of the others. And I just love reading the Westerns, the Apache, Huron. Don't know much about the Seminole, but I'm looking forward to studying that here. All my studies about Indians, they were so interesting because the one thing that really perplexed the American Indian was the way the white man would lie and not think anything about it.

They were not used to lying. The Indians didn't typically lie. Now, they'd steal. I mean, you readily admit they'd steal because they just figured if you had two and they had none, then you're even. They had one. But they were so perplexed by this lying, full-tone, as they used to say.

And one Indian tribe, I can't remember now because I did this research many years ago. That is interesting. One of the tribes, if they caught a man lying after dealing with them, especially a white man, they would cut off his tongue. Now, a lot of times they would cut off the whole tongue, but most of the time they just pulled the tongue out and cut half of it off.

That way, when he talked, people would know he had a bad tongue. Okay? Bad words. It couldn't be trusted. And another one I so remember. One of the tribes would, if they caught a white man doing this and found he had cheated them and lied, they would pull his tongue and didn't pull it out.

They would pull it and they would put it on a piece of wood and then they would beat it with a mallet or a hammer to where they flattened it out to where it was only about that flat. And it got so wide that the man could barely get it in his mouth. And when he could, he'd have to pull his mouth apart to get his tongue out. Extremely painful, but really odd to see, too. And show that one couldn't be trusted. Words were bad. That's what they said. And as I thought, putting this together, boy. Too bad we don't have some of that with all the politicians we have running around today. We'd have some without tongues or some with very flat tongues, wouldn't we? And then a lot of them decide, well, maybe I don't need to get in politics. Hmm. Interesting idea.

But we all see the movies we have in the past. We will see things and read stories of firing squads.

And they always show this sequence. Ready, aim, fire!

What about us? Do we do that with our tongues? I hope we do.

Do we ready? Aim and fire. Are we more like ready? Fire! Aren't you a fighter? Right? There's no aiming. There's no getting ready. There's no preparation in your mind. Just let it... Oh, fire!

That tongue. The tongue.

Let's go to verse 7. Can we wrap this up?

Verse 7.

As for every kind of beast and bird of reptile and creatures of the sea is tamed and has been tamed by mankind, it has been.

Said man shall have dominion. Right? You see Tarzan riding on elephants?

You see elephants and zoos? Snakes? We used to have a man travel through the south. He'd come every year. My parents took me to see. He got in this cage. He was called Omar the Snake Man. Anybody ever hear of Omar the Snake Man? You did? Oh, you heard him? Okay. He traveled out through the south and he had these snakes and then he would crawl into this room with all these supposedly poisonous snakes.

Well, he did that for years. I thought, well, when I was a kid, well, what if they're not really poisonous? Well, they're poisonous because he died a few years later. Got bit by one of the cobras or something. He died. But he would get in and just lay with these snakes and they would crawl all over him, handle him.

Well, he had a shampoo. We have eagles, hawks, carrier pigeons. People have learned to train.

But then it says in verse 8, But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison.

Look what it says there. No man! Okay, let's make sure we get that. No man can tame the tongue. It's going to take God. It's going to take God's Word. That's Holy Spirit. And we can tame that tongue.

Sometimes it feels like it has a mind of its own, doesn't it?

I got in so much trouble when I was younger. I had such a smart mouth on me.

Boy, I think about it. Had my mother's backhand. She used to backhand me. You know? That was her deal. In the car. Anywhere. I just had to say something. And it was always the wrong thing.

It takes God to bring that in. What about you?

Where do you struggle? And what avenues do you struggle with your tongue? Is it at home? Maybe with your mate. Maybe with your kids.

Maybe it's at work. Maybe it's a church. Maybe it's just out on the street.

Where do you need more curb appeal? And do you need curb appeal?

Try to get that curb built up a little bit. Because don't we all?

I do. I have to be so careful. That's why she's always over there watching. You sure you want to say that? Or in an email, you sure you want to phrase that that way? I'm glad she is. She helps me build that curb.

Do you have help? Build your curb. Do you have help for your tongue?

Hopefully it's in this church, the brethren.

I can help you say, well, you know, it may not be the most balanced approach there.

So iron needs sharpened iron. It says verse 9, With it, we bless our God and Father. And with it, we curse men who have been made in the similitude of God, in the image of God.

See, man is of the God kind.

And it says we bless and we curse them. God's greatest creation.

We curse.

You think you will not be held responsible for those words? Oh, I know! People test you. Hmm! Don't they test you?

Family members test you.

Remember, made in the similitude of God.

Out of the same mouth, verse 10, perceive blessings and cursings.

My brethren, did you say?

Church members, please listen up.

My brethren, these things ought not to be so.

These things ought not to be so.

Everyone in this room has struggled with this problem. I doubt there's anyone that's had the perfect life where they've never said anything, they ever regret. You are? Come and meet me afterwards. We need to talk about lying. Okay?

But I've never met that person before. I have some very kind people.

And I have known people that I couldn't believe they would say anything bad.

And I spent, matter of fact, I can think of a couple individual, one older man I spent a lot of time with, I never heard him say one thing bad against any person.

But he's the only one in my life I can really think of, maybe your grandmother.

A few people you can think of that they never say anything bad.

Wouldn't you like to be remembered as that?

Wouldn't God like you to be remembered as that type of person?

I want to finish here with the last scripture because James gives us an answer.

The thing about James, he'll lay it out there, tell you all about it, and then he'll give you the answer.

And he does that in verse 17 and 18, and we're in there.

Now why is it so important, this tongue?

Well, not just for what we say, but also because God said in Revelation 21a that the RIRs shall have their place in the lake of fire.

We have to watch that tongue to make sure it's not a habit.

Make sure that it builds people up instead of cutting people down.

We can make a difference. This is something James is telling us.

But he says in verse 17, well, what do we do about this? What is the answer?

He says, but the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable.

You see, he wasn't a man of peace if you read the other scriptures in the Bible before he was converted.

He was not a man of peace. He liked to stir it up.

Gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

Now, the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace.

We understand that? The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who want make peace.

The horse, the ship, the fire and some beasts.

Let's watch this thing. Let's see if we can do it the way God wants us to use it, instead of being something that's dreaded.

Let's make it something that we make sure that God can send somebody and go, go talk to that person. Let me send him to that person, because I know he's going to be built up and not torn down.